Steven Gerrard challenges Borna Barisic and Eros Grezda to make their mark at Rangers in the second half of the season

STEVEN GERRARD has challenged summer signings Borna Barisic and Eros Grezda to prove their quality for Rangers in the second half of the season.

The pair made the move to Ibrox from Croatian outfit Osijek in the summer and put pen-to-paper on four-year deals with the Light Blues.

Left-back Barisic has impressed when given his chance by boss Gerrard but injuries have prevented him putting together a sustained run of performances this term.

He missed the festive fixtures with Hibernian and Celtic but joined up with the Gers at their winter training base in Tenerife last week.

Grezda, meanwhile, has struggled to prove himself and has been in and out of the team so far as youngster Glenn Middleton has been the back-up option to wingers Daniel Candeias and Ryan Kent.

The Albanian is waiting to discover the extent of a knock picked up in training on Thursday and will continue to be assessed by Rangers’ medical team.

And boss Gerrard is keen to see the duo make an impression at Ibrox in the coming weeks and months.

He said: “Borna has had a lot of injuries and Grezda came injured. This trip is almost like a reset button for both of them and need to use the next two weeks as a mini pre-season to get their bodies ready to cope with the physical demands of Scotland and the regular game schedule.

“There’s no doubt both have got quality. Borna has shown that regularly when he’s played but we haven’t had him fit enough so he needs to get more robust.

“Grezda has got it all to prove. He needs to push himself to prove to everyone he’s capable of being a Rangers player.

“First and foremost he needs to win a shirt because at the moment the players who played against Celtic have got the shirts and rightly so.

“He has to show to us in the coming weeks that he wants to win a shirt back and when he gets his opportunity take it and find consistency.”

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